


la vie en rose

by cultkiss



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: AU, F/M, Fantasy AU, M/M, So excited, eddie is a rogue halfling, lots of Adventure, lots of atmospheric things, lots of dnd n lord of the rings vibes, never seen one of these and you know i had to do it to em, richie is a human mage (with a secret), so selfish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 09:49:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cultkiss/pseuds/cultkiss
Summary: edward would have never believed he was destined for anything, not if they hadn't shown up when they did.when the knights of the long-suppressed dark creatures are marching on the divine kingdom, it's the call of three teenage boys that must bring the peace of all kingdoms.and of course, an underlying theme of homosexuality, self-discovery, and self-acceptance.





	la vie en rose

**eddie**

has there ever been peace here? (surely there was, the elders remembered it. they learned of it in class; there were paintings, poems, stories, recollections.) will there ever be peace again? (he must believe there will be, or else, what would the fighting all be for?)  
  
'oh, edward, i wish you knew a time before. it was beautiful' his mother would lament absentmindedly.  
  
eddie wished she'd talk more of it, he longed for her to paint their beautiful pratus in vivid colors and remind him, and herself, that there was a world beyond the confines of the green. eddie didn't dislike the pratus per se, but after 17 years, the safety of home was slowly losing interest (it's scary out there, he thought, scary, he tried convincing himself.) the vast expanses of green and flowers, farm animals and little streams. eddie thought it might have been a better place to visit than to live forever. 

not that he'd ever tell his mother this. no, absolutely never; she'd pop a blood vessel in her forehead. when he thought of it, he could already hear the near choked-up strain in her voice. 'eddie, you promised' she'd tell him 'you said you'd never leave me. you'd never follow those goddamn fools, and die in the mountains like a-'

yeah, it wasn't happening. but that didn't mean eddie didn't fantasize of the idea; it happened far too frequent for his taste. in the bath, with ben, practicing lock picking, as he was trying to sleep (they invaded his dreams, like thorned vines growing around his subconscious).   


eddie had been staring at his feet as he treaded swiftly (at a speed his mother would likely disapprove of), feet sliding down patches smooth dirt. his feet were always dirty, and it drove her insane. she must be the only halfling in the entire pratus, no, the entire fucking world, that wears shoes, he thought. nearly wiping out on a rock in his path. where did she even get shoes to fit her? holding his own shoes by their heels on his fingers (he'd have to remember to put them on as he got closer to their village).

walking home from ben's dwelling was where eddie did some of his best thinking, nothing to stimulate his mind except tossing a flat stone in the air and catching it (repeating this process over and over, it brought eddie to absolute mind-numbing bordem. can you die from chronic boredom? eddie would ponder). eddie never let his mind wander too far, even in his fantasies, never too close to home. he caught himself on the brink of danger every time and yanked himself inland. if he was being honest, it scared him, to be candid with even himself - to let his mind wander too far from himself.  
  
but out in the isolated walk from ben's house? fuck all if he wouldn't have himself these precious moments.  
  
he catches the smooth stone in between his fingers, letting it fly as he begins to pick things apart. and as per usual, they came in rolling waves. one after the other.  
  
  
**no. 1 - outside**  
  
this one is obvious by now. he's seen pictures of the icy cautis mountains to the north, the watery nothingness to the west, aequor, and the east - well, eddie was extremely familiar with the east. the pratus, home of halflings. everything is bright green all year round, every season is for growing, lush forests and beautiful fauna. the pratus was nothing special to eddie, it was home, it was deeply average. there were the hot lands in the deepest south, fraglantia. everything in between these kingdoms, every stretch of land in between, were of great mystery to eddie. he wished there were something he could read, some book with all of his answers in them. someone to just tell him. if he wasn't so scared of the truth.  
  
his father - he heard things of his father, his father in the lands beyond, things that intrigued him, things he saw within himself. but he wouldn't let himself think of that, he never did. it wasn't anything to do with him, ultimately. my father doesn't exist, he had long convinced himself.  
  
a huff leaves his lips, launching off of his toes, jumping swiftly across a small stream, he knew if his feet were to get muddy... his mother would throw a fit. three in a week was testing her patience.  
  
**no. 2 - ben**

a curious friend, and eddie's by far longest-held one. as far as friends went, ben was a fine one. he was ever curious, and eddie surely liked that about him - if the curiosities weren't often invasive. (eddie often thought that, if he wanted, ben could teach their teachers. if he wasn't such a teacher's pet). ben never wanted to run and climb trees like eddie did (not that eddie ever did, no matter how much he longed to. it was just one of those things his mother disapproved of, one of her rules. she didn't want him to fall), but the boy was a genius woodworker. eddie could sometimes sit and watch him put pieces of unused firewood together until it became one sensical thing. it astonished eddie. he wished he had ben's talent.

eddie should have been watching where he was going, but that was his fault (he knew the hill was steep, and yet, he let himself become careless in his thoughts). one moment, he was walking at an even pace, and the other; his feet were out from underneath him and his back was hit against the ground with a force that knocked the wind from his lungs. there was a moment where he was gasping for air, where time felt as though it was standing in place, eyes going black around the edges. he gasped for air desperately. holy fuck, he thought frantically, i'm going to die.

though, of course, he didn't.  
  
he stared straight up at the sky as his vision began to focus, focusing on taking deep breaths and flexing muscles, wiggling toes and fingers.  
  
nothing broken, he thought, thank god.  
  
no more thinking for now.  
  
eddie spent the rest of his short hike trying to figure out how to hide his limp. (it was harder with the shoes on his feet. he hated the way they suffocated him. tough boots. sturdy). if his mother noticed, he'd surely get an ear full of it. he didn't want to, he'd walk right on his twisted ankle if he had to.  
  
and he did, and it hurt like a bitch. but his mother didn't notice, greeted with a smile, a glossy kiss pressed against his soft cheek. it felt routine and etched into stone. the short walk to his bedroom felt like an eternity of thoughts, words crammed into every millimeter of his skull.   
  
he knew he couldn't fight it forever, he knew his mother couldn't delay the inevitable.


End file.
